New owner, BMW 325iX Touring

[D.Martijn]

dang. rust is no fun. I'm pretty sure I have a handful of spot that are hiding from obvious sight as well. Probably in the same spots as you.

Yeah, there is some more surface rust at the front valance but it's not easy to get rid of. IF I ever get it resprayed I might have to replace is, jsut to be 100% sure there is no rust :p

Wow my iX needs an undercarriage restoration like this. Looks amazing!

Thanks man! It takes quite a bit of time but it definitely will be worth it.

[D.Martijn]

Got the sections where I had to weld seamsealed and sealed with some anti gravel spray.
Turned out pretty good. The surfaes in the engine bay got some black paint for now. I think I have some Lazur paint left over from a touch up I did a while back.








I then got started with assembling the front suspension/driveline


Had to grind some material off from the studs of swaybar end links (Moog brand) as they were way to long for them to fit onto the struts..


Also got the brakes installed, rotor is still good, no bur so I reused it. Pads got replaced though




And the zinc plated shields for the tank got installed as well. There was some minor rust to be removed from around the studs the hold these onto the underside.

[D.Martijn]

Another update from today.

Got some help from my brother with assembling the transfer case. New bearings and seals + fresh cad plated hardware to go along with it.

Front output shaft is from another transfercase I had as a spare, this one has good splines.


Other side of the TC, glad that I bought that seal/bearing driver kit as it came in very handy!




And fully assembled! Only thing that's left is to press in the new bushing. Still needs to arrive though :(




Finally we also mounted the front sway bar, bled the brakes and started bleeding the slave cylinder for the clutch. We're having some trouble with getting the air out though. The pedal still feels pretty "springy".?

[D.Martijn]

I still needed to install the rear CV shafts but when trying to get them inside of the hubs, I couldn't slide them in by hand. I do remember I had to use a punch and hammer them out of the hub.

After some googling, I found that there is a special tool to pull the CVs inside of the hubs. I took some quick measurements and went to my work to make a little tool.
A few minutes on the lathe, a bit of tapping and it was done!

Works great!




I also re painted the exhaust manifolds after quickly sandblasting them again. Used a new copper nuts and an Elring gasket although the old one still looked pretty good..

[jeenyus]

looks great! did you decide not to use the sway bar then?

[D.Martijn]

Just a small update, received my transfer case bushing from the US.
How ironic, ordering German car parts in the US and getting them shipped back to Europe

Luckily this time it wasn't teared in two places like the one I got from my dealer..

Already got it pressed in, Friday I'll get started on mounting it back into the Touring. Then it's only a few minor things and getting it aligned. We are getting closer!!

looks great! did you decide not to use the sway bar then?

You mean the E36 M3 bar? I didn't install it this time. I first wanted to get a feel from the original bar with new OEM bushings and new end links. I'll go from there. Haven't had time to make some extensions either..

[D.Martijn]

Friday I finally mounted the transfer case back into the car. after fiddling with the top two bolts I got it all tightend up.
New guibo between the transmission and TC. I had already replaced the rear guibo between TC and driveshaft a little while ago.








And the exhaust, when removing it I noticed a little hole at the top, decided to weld it up, not perfect but it'll do




And today I got the front and rear section installed, all new hardware, rubber mounts, hangers..


(Dont mind the background, I should go to the recycling center..)

[jeenyus]

road trip ready now?

[Tzantushka]

Just finished reading your thread - Impressive work.

I’ve spent the last 2 hours reading this whilst I’m recovering from minor surgery in hospital.
I’m exhausted after seeing all the work you’ve done - only to realise you have invested almost three years!
Even more impressive!

[D.Martijn]

road trip ready now?

Yes, almost. Still need to get the steering tie rods aligned though.
However I did drive it to work again today as I have a pretty short commute anyway. Car feels great. Short shifter is crazy! what a difference!! Now that the whining from the rear diff is gone, I'm notice some whining coming from my front diff now as well..

I found a guy in The Netherlands selling a couple of transfer cases, front diffs etc. My uncle and I will go to the seller this Sunday. I might pick up a front diff, get that one serviced and swap it with my old one.

Just finished reading your thread - Impressive work.

I’ve spent the last 2 hours reading this whilst I’m recovering from minor surgery in hospital.
I’m exhausted after seeing all the work you’ve done - only to realise you have invested almost three years!
Even more impressive!

Thank you man, get well soon!
It's my 'daily' though, so it's on and off working on it when I have time & sometimes taking it of off the road a few months to do some bigger work while meanwhile I drive my VW mk1 Golf 1.1 to work, luckily that one is pretty reliable as well ;D

[D.Martijn]

Last Monday a friend lend me a hand getting my clutch bled. He has a bleeder kit that puts pressure on the brake reservoir to push the brake fluid and air out of the system.
Worked ok, however I still decided to remove the clutch slave again and pump it a couple of times with my hand, was able to remove some more air that way. Still feels a bit lighter than my old one but I'm able to disengage the clutch just fine

My friand got himself another E30 (this time a 325i Touring instead of his old 320i Touring). We went for a little drive and spotted a BMW 2002 Turbo! Oh man that thing is sick


When I got back to the workshop, I wanted to get the engine running again. Because it's has been sitting for such a long time, I decided to crank the engine without ignition. Of course I drained the battery before getting oil pressure.. After charging it and doing some googling, I found out you can drive the oilpump with a electric drill to build up oil pressure. After removing the aluminium plug and the gear of the oilpump, I was able to reach the oilpump shaft with a couple extensions and a 6mm socket. (on a regular M20 block you need to spin clockwise, on an iX counterclock wise)

Couple of pictures, sitting back on the driveway after two motnhs!

[Powling]

Interesting that the 2002 has dual headlights and not singles. I may be stupid but I dont think I've ever seen that before...

[D.Martijn]

Interesting that the 2002 has dual headlights and not singles. I may be stupid but I dont think I've ever seen that before...

Although I'm not sure it this is an original item, they are definitely period correct.

[econti]

I so badly wish we had iXes and tourings here. Such a good looking car

[D.Martijn]

Previous weekend my uncle and I went to The Netherlands, there was a guy selling 4-5 transfer cases, front diffs and a few transmissions.
Unfortunatly only one transfer case was still good when I tested it. We both got a spare transmission & TC front shaft, I also got myself a 3.91 front diff. My uncle bought the transfer case as a spare (only 75€)!


On Ebay in Germany I aso found some new front strut bearings, I replaced these when I re-did my suspension but it was only 100€ instead of +200. I'll keep them as spares of might sell them.


On Sunday there was a drive out called "Sharknose Tour", great event! All sorts of old BMWs. even spotted an iX Baur!
My brother went with my uncle his iX, my uncle with his 316i Baur and I of couse with my iX Touring.
Saturday evening we got both Tourings washed.


Much deserved after 2 month of sitting under a layer of dust :p










I also swapped out my genuine rubber mats to the velour mats now that the weather is getting better.


Little stop mid drive out






This week my new shifter arrived, the old one was illuminated but it stopped working recently + the leather was getting worn through.


Also swapped out the old shift boot with a new one





When getting driving the car for the first few day I noticed some ATF leaking from my Transfer case. This Friday after work I wanted to check on the leak again. However I noticed a leak at my transmission bellhousing as well, after smelling the fluid, I noticed it was brake fluid.. Blown slave cylinder

After getting it back on axle stands and checking the inside of the bellhousing everything looked dry




The leak was coming from the backside of the slave cylinder, I didn't replace it when I changed the clutch because it still looked pretty new. Oh well, quick call to the local parts store and they assured me they would get the part on Saturday. I ordered both the master and slave. Today I got it all replaced and bled. I also replaced the diff oil after driving the new diff for 500km already + the ATF oil from the TC as well. I used some sealent on the drainplug. So far it's not leaking any fluid..
We're back in business!